Support collar



5 2 A 4, 7 7 A. 3 L S S A R G s 9 6 9 l L 1 V. o N

SUPPORT COLLAR Filed April 2l, 1966 FIGZ.

INVENTOR4 SIMON GRASSLJ FIGB.

ATTORNEY United States VPatent O 3,477,425 SUPPORT COLLAR Simmou Grassi,Mount Peter Estate, Warwick, N.Y. 10990 Filed Apr. 21, 1966, Ser. No.544,288 Int. Cl. A61h 1/02; A61f 5/37 U.S. Cl. 12S-75 6 Claims ABSTRACTF THE DISCLOSURE The disclosure relates to a support collar for wearingby a user around the neck of the user and comprises an individuallongitudinally flexible transversely rigid collar, said collar beingopened at its front, a padding provided at the upper and lower edges ofsaid collar, support pads releasably attached to the inner surfacel ofthe collar for cradling the jawbone of the user between the upper edgeof the support collar and the support pads, a strap for closing thecollar from the front thereof, and a locking means disposed on saidstrap for locking said collar in a closed position,

The present invention relates to a neck support and more particularly tocollar for rendering an individuals neck and/or head immobile.

Heretofore, persons with neck or spine injuries were forced to wear aspecial collar to maintain their head rigid and neck immobile. Theseprior art Supports or collars were generally made of a flexible plasticmaterial which were provided with padding about its edges and werefitted around the front of the neck. The collar was closed and locked atthe back and generally was diihcult to open and close because of theproximity of the closing or locking means.

Further these prior art collars, when tted around the neck, where placedunder the jaw bone so that the head could be held rigid. Ideally thiswas the case, invariably however, the persons jaw bone would not be sosupported and the upper edge of the collar would slip over the jaw bonethus negating the beneficial support desired. Also, because the collarclosed at the rear, the collar was narrowest at this point so that norigid means could be provided which could support the individuals headfrom the rear. With this construction therefore the person could movehis head forward and back which further negated the purposes of thecollar.

It may be seen therefore that the prior art rear closing collars couldnot provide the proper support because of the slipping of the personsjaw bone beneath the upper edge of the collar and further no rearsupporting action was provided for the individuals head.

It is the general object of the present invention to avoid and overcomethe diiliculties experienced in these prior art devices by the provisionof an inexpensive and easily adjustable support collar.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a collar which maybe opened and closed from the front thereby allowing great ease ofapplying the support.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a supportcollar with a means for preventing the upper edge of the support collarfrom slipping over the jaw bone.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a support collarwhich will more readily support and hold immobile an individuals head.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a supportcollar which may utilize a rear support element at the cervex for aidingin the immobilization of the wearers neck and head.

The objects hereinabove set forth have been achieved by providing asupport collar for wearing around the neck ice of an individualcomprising a longitudinally flexible transversely rigid collar, saidcollar being open at its front, a padding provided on the upper andlower edges of said collar, support pads releasably attached to saidcollar to prevent slipping of said collar, said support pads beingadjustably located on the inner surface of said collar, a strap forclosing the collar from the front thereof, and a locking means disposedon said strap for locking said collar in a closed position.

For a better understanding of the present invention reference should behad to accompanying drawings wherein like numerals of reference indicatesimilar parts throughout the several views and wherein:

FIGURE l is a perspective view of the present invention,

FIGURE 2 is a view of the inside of the collar with the collar open,

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional view' of the collar taken along lines 3--3of FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view `of head supporting element, and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of a support pad.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, a support collar is indicated generally bythe reference numeral 10. The support collar 10 may be provided with alongitudinally flexible collar 12 which may be readily applied aroundthe neck of an individual. The collar 12 may longitudinally be composedof a plastic or other material Well known to those skilled in the art.

In order not to cut or chafe the neck or body of the wearer, the upperedge 14 and lower edge 16 of the collar may be provided with a padding18. structurally the collar 12 is longitudinally flexible so that it maylit around the neck of the wearer, however in order to support the headof the wearer and further to render the neck and head of the wearerimmobile and rigid, the collar 12 may be transversely rigid. Therefore,the collar 12 is longitudinally flexible and transversely rigid.

The collar 12 may be so constructed that it is iitted around the neckand closed from the front 20, that is, it may be closed under the chinof the wearer. To this end a locking means 22 is provided on the outsidesurface 24 of the 'collar 12 between the open ends 26 of the collar 12.As shown in FIGURE 1 the locking means 22 may be in the form of a strap28 having on end 30 iixedly attached to one side of the outside 24 ofthe collar 12 and having its free end 32 adapted to be connected to theoutside surface 24 of the collar 12 thereby closing the collar 12 aroundthe neck of the wearer. The means for closing the collar 12 and lockingthe strap 28 in position may take the form of a Velcro arrangement orany other convenient and readily accessible well known lockingarrangement such as snaps or slide buckles (not shown).

In order to prevent the slippage of the upper padded edge 14 of thecollar 12 over the jaw bone of the wearer a plurality of support pads 34may be removably attached to the inner surface 36 of the collar 12 nearthe open ends 26. With this structure and positioning of the supportpads 34 these pads will act as an abutment preventing the jaw bone fromslipping below the padded upper edge 14 and thereby holding the wearersneck in an irnmobile position -by preventing the downward movement ofthe wearers head. It may be noted that the support pads 34 are removablyattached in position and further the `support pads may be adjusted to ahigher or lower position on the inside of the collar 12 so that the mostcomfortable and support rendering position may -be obtained for eachwearer of the support collar 10.

As shown in FIGURE 5, each support pad 34 is comprised of a rigidplastic member 38 and a thick padding 40 provided on the upper edge 42of the rigid plastic member 38. It may be seen therefore that the jawbone of the wearer may be cradled between the padded upper edges 14 ofthe collar 12 and the support pads 34. The support pads 34 may bereleasably held in position by a Velcro type of securing arrangementhowever it may be seen that these support pads 34 may be permanentlyaffixed to the collar 12 as by rivets (not shown) if it is so desired.However, the releasably attached arrangement is preferable since itlends an adjustable feature to the support collar which may be varied tothe comfort and convenience of the wearer.

In order to add to the holding of the head in a rigid position acervical pad 44 may be attached to the rear inner surface 46 of thecollar 12. As shown in FIGURE 1, and in phantom in FIGURE 2 the cervicalpad 44 protrudes above and below the upper (14) and lower (16) edges ofthe collar 12 thereby forming a rigid brace at the back of the wearersneck holding his head in one virtually fixed position. The cervical pad44 may be releasably connected in position so that if its use is notrequired it may be dispensed with, however when used it addsimmeasurably to the immobilization of the wearers head. The cervical pad44 may be releasably attached by the utilization of a Velcro securingarrangement or a snap-on arrangement or any other convenient method ofreleasable attachment. It may be recognized that by positioning thecervical pad 44 in a higher or lower position will aid in positioningthe wearers head in either a forwardly tilted position or an upwardlytilted position. In either case the wearers head will be iided in thedesired position because of the placement of the cervical pad `44.

lIn some instances, for the sake of maintaining a low cost supportcollar 10, the separate cervical pad 44 may be dispensed with and in itsstead the rear portion of the collar 12 may be made higher or lowerdepending upon the desired position of the head. For example if it isdesired to have the wearers head maintained in a forwardly tilteddirection the upper edge 14 at the rear portion of the collar would bemade higher or wider. The change in the width at the rear portion of thecollar 12. therefore would be the equivalent of placing the cervical pad44 on the Velcro fastener to protrude above the upper edge 14 of thecollar 12. Similarly the narrowing of the rear portion of the collar 12-would tend to maintain the wearers head in a slightly upwardly tiltedposition.

In operation, the support collar 10, with the support pads 34 and thecervical pad 44 is positioned around the wearers neck and comfortablyyet tightly closed beneath fthe chin of the wearer by means of the strap28 closing off the open ends 26 of the collar 12. If it is found thatthe collar 12 is sliding over the wearers jaw bone, the collar 12 may-be opened and the position of the support pads 34 changed to providethe desired comfort and Support- It will be recognized b y thoseskilled. in the art that 4 the objects of the present invention havebeen achieved by providing a support collar having support pads forpreventing the sliding of the collar as well as the cornpleteimmobilization of the wearers neck and head through the use of thesupport pads and cervical pad.

It is understood that although a preferred embodiment is herewith shownand described in detail in accordance with the patent statutes theinvention is not to be considered to be limited thereto or thereby.

I claim:

1. A support collar for wearing around the neck of an individualcomprising a longitudinally flexible transversely rigid collar, saidcollar being open at its front, a padding provided on the upper andlower edges of said collar, support pads releasably attached to saidcollar to prevent slipping of said collar, said support pads :beingshort in length and adapted to support selected areas of the jawbone ofthe user and being adjustably located on the inner surface of saidcollar, a strap for closing the collar from the front thereof, and alocking means disposed on said strap for locking said collar in a closedposition from the front of said support collar.

2. A support collar according to claim 1 wherein said short support padsare positioned to cradle the jaw bone of the individual between theupper edge of said collar and said support pads, said support pads beingprovided with an adjustable securing means thereby being adapted tochange positions on the inner surface of said collar.

3. A support collar according to claim 2 wherein a rectangular cervicalpad is releasably connected to the rear portion of said collar forholding the individuals head in a fixed position, said cervical padbeing adjustable to a higher or lower position, said cervical pad beingtransversely wider than said support collar.

4. A support collar according to claim 3 wherein said cervical pad isprovided with a releasable locking means.

5. A support collar according to claim 2 wherein said collar is providedwith a rear portion, said rear portion being transversely wider thansaid support collar to hold the individuals head in a forwardly tiltedfixed position.

6. A support collar according to claim 2 wherein said collar is providedwith a rear portion, said rear portion being transversely narrower thansaid support collar to hold the individuals head in an upwardly tiltedfixed position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,135,256 l6/1964 Gruber 128--753,220,406 11/ 1965 Connelly 128-75 3,320,950 5/ 1967 McElvenny 128-75RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner JOHN D. YASKO, Assistant Examiner

